1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,228 (EXPLOSIONS) 2 00:00:13,513 --> 00:00:19,349 It had taken less than 90 days for the Allies to complete the defeat of Hitler's armies in France. 3 00:00:19,519 --> 00:00:24,479 By the end of August 1944, the Germans were in headlong flight to the borders of the Reich. 4 00:00:27,627 --> 00:00:31,393 One man above all could claim to be the architect of the victory - 5 00:00:31,564 --> 00:00:34,829 the commander of the Allied Armies in the field, 6 00:00:35,035 --> 00:00:37,970 General Bernard Law Montgomery. 7 00:00:42,475 --> 00:00:44,739 I have the latest estimates... 8 00:00:44,944 --> 00:00:49,904 To mark his triumph, Monty had commissioned a painter to capture his likeness in victory. 9 00:00:50,984 --> 00:00:53,612 The road to Berlin seemed to open before him 10 00:00:53,787 --> 00:00:58,918 and he was confident a final mighty push would end the war within months. 11 00:00:59,092 --> 00:01:01,026 He was wrong. 12 00:01:09,969 --> 00:01:13,928 The Allied advance was to be threatened by a long and bitter battle. 13 00:01:14,274 --> 00:01:18,404 It would be fought not in the field, but in the conference chamber 14 00:01:18,578 --> 00:01:21,513 for the right to lead the assault on Hitler's Reich. 15 00:01:23,383 --> 00:01:25,510 Mistakes would be made. 16 00:01:25,685 --> 00:01:29,644 Thousands of Allied soldiers would pay for them with their lives. 17 00:01:46,005 --> 00:01:48,633 (RADIO ) This is John McVain in Paris. 18 00:01:49,943 --> 00:01:53,902 Those bells you can hear are the bells of Notre Dame cathedral 19 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:59,040 and they're ringing a chime of thanksgiving that French troops have entered the city. 20 00:02:00,887 --> 00:02:06,382 American and Free French forces began their final advance into Paris on August 25th, 1944. 21 00:02:07,260 --> 00:02:10,229 Four long years of occupation were over. 22 00:02:13,900 --> 00:02:17,392 (AMERICAN ACCENT) The Germans left were not warriors. 23 00:02:17,570 --> 00:02:21,870 They had been taken out of the buildings where they had worked or slept in 24 00:02:22,041 --> 00:02:25,670 and they were all scared stiff, as well they might be. 25 00:02:25,845 --> 00:02:29,804 American soldiers were half-heartedly trying to protect them. 26 00:02:31,951 --> 00:02:34,579 (NEW SPEAKER) Wonderful, wonderful times. 27 00:02:34,754 --> 00:02:39,714 With the people of Paris all over the boulevards and all over the streets cheering us on. 28 00:02:39,893 --> 00:02:44,353 We were very optimistic that we were going to really clean up this thing 29 00:02:44,531 --> 00:02:46,999 a little sooner than people had expected. 30 00:02:48,401 --> 00:02:53,361 (WOMAN) People started saying, ''The generals say we're going to go home for Christmas. 31 00:02:53,540 --> 00:02:55,337 ''The war's about over.'' 32 00:03:00,046 --> 00:03:02,480 Four days after the liberation of the city, 33 00:03:02,649 --> 00:03:06,949 the Allied supreme commander, the American General Dwight D Eisenhower, 34 00:03:07,287 --> 00:03:09,687 stood beneath the Arc de Triomphe. 35 00:03:09,856 --> 00:03:12,484 (BAND STRIKES UP) 36 00:03:15,929 --> 00:03:19,888 An American division was cheered along the Champs Elysees. 37 00:03:20,667 --> 00:03:24,967 But one man was conspicuously absent from the celebrations - 38 00:03:25,772 --> 00:03:28,639 the commander of the armies in the field. 39 00:03:28,808 --> 00:03:33,268 General Montgomery had sent a cold telegram to the supreme commander 40 00:03:33,446 --> 00:03:35,914 excusing himself from the party. 41 00:03:39,619 --> 00:03:44,249 Monty and his staff had learned that Eisenhower was to assume personal command 42 00:03:44,424 --> 00:03:46,392 of the Allied armies. 43 00:03:46,559 --> 00:03:49,824 The change of command had been agreed before D-Day. 44 00:03:50,029 --> 00:03:53,988 American soldiers would soon outnumber the British three to one. 45 00:03:55,034 --> 00:03:58,663 But Monty viewed the change as dangerously short-sighted 46 00:03:58,871 --> 00:04:02,432 and instructed his Chief of Staff to tell Eisenhower so. 47 00:04:02,642 --> 00:04:07,238 The forces must operate as one whole with great cohesion. 48 00:04:07,413 --> 00:04:09,938 - And be strong enough to do it quickly. - Yes, sir. 49 00:04:10,283 --> 00:04:12,251 Now, Freddie... 50 00:04:12,418 --> 00:04:16,548 You must tell Ike that this is a whole-time job for one man. 51 00:04:17,724 --> 00:04:22,218 The great victory in north-west France has been won by personal command. 52 00:04:22,395 --> 00:04:25,853 And it is only in this way that future victories will be won. 53 00:04:26,065 --> 00:04:27,862 I'll do what I can, sir, 54 00:04:28,034 --> 00:04:32,664 but I know that General Eisenhower feels most strongly that command ought to be his. 55 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,605 Freddie, to change the system of command now, 56 00:04:36,776 --> 00:04:41,338 after having won such a great victory, would simply prolong the war. 57 00:04:41,514 --> 00:04:45,280 He obviously viewed this with considerable misgiving 58 00:04:45,485 --> 00:04:47,453 because, uh... 59 00:04:47,620 --> 00:04:51,716 ..he didn't believe that Eisenhower could do the job as well as he could. 60 00:04:53,459 --> 00:04:55,723 But Eisenhower would not be moved. 61 00:04:55,928 --> 00:05:01,230 As Monty's Chief of Staff had predicted, America was clamouring for an American. 62 00:05:02,402 --> 00:05:04,597 It was to prove a watershed. 63 00:05:05,805 --> 00:05:09,571 Now, as both ground forces and supreme commander, 64 00:05:09,776 --> 00:05:13,405 Eisenhower was free to direct the campaign as he saw fit. 65 00:05:15,048 --> 00:05:19,348 As a British general, I can speak for all the soldiers of the Empire 66 00:05:19,519 --> 00:05:23,285 and can express our high admiration 67 00:05:23,489 --> 00:05:27,448 for the brave fighting qualities of the American armies. 68 00:05:27,627 --> 00:05:31,757 We never want to fight alongside better soldiers. 69 00:05:34,434 --> 00:05:37,403 In his final broadcast as ground forces commander, 70 00:05:37,570 --> 00:05:41,529 Monty spoke warmly of the victory won by the great alliance. 71 00:05:42,575 --> 00:05:49,310 (MONTGOMERY) All that matters is that it was well and truly done by the whole Allied team. 72 00:05:49,482 --> 00:05:52,007 The proper motto for allies should be, 73 00:05:52,352 --> 00:05:55,321 ''One for all and all for one.'' 74 00:05:58,624 --> 00:06:04,187 But for all the warm words, Eisenhower's senior commanders had very different views 75 00:06:04,364 --> 00:06:06,628 about how the war should be won. 76 00:06:08,234 --> 00:06:13,866 American generals were privately delighted that control of the armies had passed to Eisenhower. 77 00:06:17,243 --> 00:06:22,510 Monty's chief rival, the hero of the break-out from the Allied bridgehead after D-Day, 78 00:06:22,682 --> 00:06:24,946 was General George Patton. 79 00:06:25,318 --> 00:06:27,878 # This is the GI Jive, man alive 80 00:06:28,054 --> 00:06:31,490 # It starts with the bugler blowin' Reveille over your bed 81 00:06:31,691 --> 00:06:34,489 # When you arrive 82 00:06:35,261 --> 00:06:39,220 # Jack, that's the GI Jive... # 83 00:06:40,433 --> 00:06:43,630 Patton's 3rd Army was racing across eastern France, 84 00:06:43,803 --> 00:06:46,567 advancing more than 50 miles a day. 85 00:06:46,739 --> 00:06:48,730 # After you wash and dress 86 00:06:48,941 --> 00:06:50,932 # More or less 87 00:06:51,277 --> 00:06:55,680 # You go get your breakfast in a beautiful little cafe... # 88 00:06:55,848 --> 00:07:00,410 People were scared to death of General Patton. He was very aggressive. 89 00:07:00,586 --> 00:07:03,214 He kept his forces moving all the time. 90 00:07:03,389 --> 00:07:05,823 # Out of your seat into the street 91 00:07:05,992 --> 00:07:08,290 # Make with the feet... # 92 00:07:09,028 --> 00:07:13,192 And he was right out there and he was a ''kill or be killed'' guy. 93 00:07:13,366 --> 00:07:17,530 We felt we were with a winner, some guy who knew what he was doing, 94 00:07:17,703 --> 00:07:20,331 that he'd figure out how to win that war. 95 00:07:20,506 --> 00:07:25,466 By the end of August, Patton was within striking distance of the defensive wall 96 00:07:25,645 --> 00:07:28,739 that guarded the borders of Hitler's Reich. 97 00:07:28,915 --> 00:07:32,874 I hope to go through the Siegfried Line like shit through a goose. 98 00:07:33,052 --> 00:07:35,486 That is not quotable. 99 00:07:35,655 --> 00:07:40,615 On what do you base your belief that you will go through the Siegfried Line...quickly? 100 00:07:40,793 --> 00:07:44,752 - My natural optimism. - There must be something. 101 00:07:44,931 --> 00:07:49,698 You can't ask men to retreat 300, 400 miles and then ask them to defend anything. 102 00:07:49,869 --> 00:07:52,497 Patton was teasing and arrogant. 103 00:07:54,273 --> 00:07:56,537 Above all, he loved war. 104 00:07:58,344 --> 00:08:02,940 Gentlemen, the perfectly phenomenal advance of the British 21st Army Group 105 00:08:04,016 --> 00:08:07,713 has completely buggered the whole German show. 106 00:08:07,887 --> 00:08:12,347 And as a result of that, the German plan of defence has completely dissipated. 107 00:08:12,525 --> 00:08:15,790 Privately, Patton was less complimentary of the British 108 00:08:15,995 --> 00:08:19,294 and there was one man he loathed above all others - 109 00:08:19,465 --> 00:08:22,434 his chief rival for the newspaper headlines. 110 00:08:22,602 --> 00:08:28,370 Nobody has greater admiration for General Montgomery than I have. 111 00:08:29,542 --> 00:08:33,842 (CAROL MATHER) One knew of this rivalry, very much so. 112 00:08:34,013 --> 00:08:36,811 He'd call Monty a tired little fart and, um... 113 00:08:36,983 --> 00:08:39,952 So there was no love lost between the two of them. 114 00:08:49,996 --> 00:08:52,430 As Patton's army pressed eastwards, 115 00:08:52,598 --> 00:08:58,002 Montgomery's 21st Army Group was advancing north toward the Reich. 116 00:08:58,337 --> 00:09:02,501 On August 25th, the British and Canadians began crossing the River Seine 117 00:09:03,543 --> 00:09:06,376 and, nine days later, liberated Brussels. 118 00:09:07,713 --> 00:09:12,173 The speed of the Allied advance presented Eisenhower with rival plans 119 00:09:12,351 --> 00:09:16,617 for the conquest of Germany - one British-led, the other American. 120 00:09:20,726 --> 00:09:24,355 The American 12th Army Group, the 1st and 3rd Armies, 121 00:09:24,530 --> 00:09:27,795 was driving north-east on a broad front towards the Reich 122 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,628 and the last great obstacle, the River Rhine, 123 00:09:31,671 --> 00:09:34,799 Monty's 21st Army Group, the British and Canadians, 124 00:09:34,974 --> 00:09:39,434 north towards Holland and the industrial heartland of Germany, the Ruhr. 125 00:09:45,851 --> 00:09:51,653 Monty invited Eisenhower to his headquarters to press the case for his northern route. 126 00:09:51,824 --> 00:09:53,451 Ike. 127 00:09:56,329 --> 00:10:00,789 I thought that we should have a meeting alone together in my caravan, 128 00:10:00,967 --> 00:10:02,935 if that's all right with you, Ike. 129 00:10:03,269 --> 00:10:09,230 There are big points of principle we should tackle ourselves and we don't need the staff. 130 00:10:09,408 --> 00:10:12,377 - If you feel it's important, Monty. - I do. 131 00:10:13,446 --> 00:10:17,041 Monty was convinced that the best hope for victory by Christmas 132 00:10:17,416 --> 00:10:22,547 was with a single, all-powerful thrust along his route, to be commanded by him. 133 00:10:24,290 --> 00:10:28,818 Patton's army would be forced to hold its advance at the borders of the Reich. 134 00:10:29,028 --> 00:10:32,464 I want an American army of at least 12 divisions 135 00:10:32,665 --> 00:10:36,795 to advance on the right flank of 21st Army Group. 136 00:10:36,969 --> 00:10:41,804 But if I agree to that, 12 Army Group would only have one army in it. 137 00:10:42,008 --> 00:10:44,875 Public opinion back in the States would object. 138 00:10:47,513 --> 00:10:52,473 Are you going to let public opinion, political and national considerations, 139 00:10:52,652 --> 00:10:57,612 force you to take a military decision that is basically unsound? 140 00:10:57,790 --> 00:11:02,420 You must understand, Monty, this is an election year back home. 141 00:11:02,595 --> 00:11:07,362 If I agree to what you suggest, the public might swing against the President 142 00:11:07,566 --> 00:11:10,831 and perhaps lose him the election. I won't do that. 143 00:11:11,037 --> 00:11:14,973 Eisenhower was determined to press forward on a broad front. 144 00:11:15,307 --> 00:11:21,268 He promised to give priority to Monty's advance north, but Patton would also be given his head. 145 00:11:24,283 --> 00:11:28,014 But his plans were to founder on the beaches of Normandy. 146 00:11:34,627 --> 00:11:38,461 The supplies the Allies needed to advance were still being landed 147 00:11:38,631 --> 00:11:40,895 across beaches 400 miles away. 148 00:11:42,868 --> 00:11:45,496 Until a major port could be captured, 149 00:11:45,671 --> 00:11:48,469 supplies would have to be hauled across France 150 00:11:48,641 --> 00:11:53,271 and there weren't enough to keep both Monty and Patton moving. 151 00:11:58,417 --> 00:12:03,582 The need for gasoline was always acute. We never seemed to have enough. 152 00:12:03,756 --> 00:12:08,955 And we had a hard time getting what we needed up to the front. 153 00:12:10,296 --> 00:12:13,231 Tanks use an awful lot of gasoline. 154 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:17,358 But Patton was very demanding in his requirements for fuel. 155 00:12:18,704 --> 00:12:23,835 He felt that he could keep going. The Rhine was now the objective. 156 00:12:25,611 --> 00:12:29,741 On September 4th, Monty wrote to Ike urging him to choose a route. 157 00:12:29,915 --> 00:12:31,883 His route. 158 00:12:32,952 --> 00:12:35,750 (MONTGOMERY) I consider we have now reached a stage 159 00:12:35,921 --> 00:12:40,620 where one really powerful and full-blooded thrust towards Berlin is likely to get there 160 00:12:40,826 --> 00:12:42,953 and end the German war. 161 00:12:43,295 --> 00:12:47,425 Time is vital and the decision must be made at once. 162 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,037 If we split our resources, so that neither thrust is full-blooded, 163 00:12:52,371 --> 00:12:54,498 we will prolong the war. 164 00:12:55,641 --> 00:12:59,407 Eisenhower was at his new forward headquarters in Normandy, 165 00:12:59,612 --> 00:13:01,671 400 miles behind the front. 166 00:13:02,715 --> 00:13:07,846 Communications were so bad, it was three days before Monty received a reply to his signal. 167 00:13:10,489 --> 00:13:15,791 (EISENHOWER) While agreeing with your conception of a powerful thrust towards Berlin, 168 00:13:15,961 --> 00:13:19,260 I do not agree it should be initiated at this moment 169 00:13:19,431 --> 00:13:21,899 to the exclusion of all other manoeuvres. 170 00:13:27,273 --> 00:13:29,707 Eisenhower refused to hold Patton. 171 00:13:32,444 --> 00:13:34,412 Ah, come in, Kit. 172 00:13:37,016 --> 00:13:42,579 But on September 8th, Monty's plan for a thrust north into Germany was reinforced 173 00:13:42,755 --> 00:13:45,019 by a sudden and terrifying threat. 174 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:05,700 I was a boy who was just over five years old. My sister, Rosemary, was three. 175 00:14:05,878 --> 00:14:10,508 We lived in this three-bedroomed house in Number One Stavely Road. 176 00:14:18,357 --> 00:14:21,326 It was between quarter to seven and seven o'clock. 177 00:14:21,493 --> 00:14:24,291 My sister was in her bedroom in the front 178 00:14:24,463 --> 00:14:28,422 and I had been playing with wooden blocks in the bath. 179 00:14:34,773 --> 00:14:36,741 The first I knew of it was 180 00:14:36,909 --> 00:14:41,369 the wall between the bathroom and my parents' bedroom completely disappeared 181 00:14:41,547 --> 00:14:44,015 and was a heap of rubble. 182 00:14:44,350 --> 00:14:49,652 The only recollection I have of being in hospital was of Rosemary being brought in on a trolley. 183 00:14:49,822 --> 00:14:52,950 I wasn't aware then that she had been killed. 184 00:14:55,094 --> 00:14:56,891 My mother and father told me 185 00:14:57,062 --> 00:14:59,496 fairly soon afterwards. 186 00:14:59,698 --> 00:15:04,931 How they said it I don't know offhand. Obviously that was very traumatic for them as well. 187 00:15:06,038 --> 00:15:09,997 Number One Stavely Road was the first house in London 188 00:15:10,342 --> 00:15:14,301 to be destroyed by Hitler's vengeance weapon, the V-2 rocket. 189 00:15:15,247 --> 00:15:17,681 The city was already under bombardment, 190 00:15:17,850 --> 00:15:21,809 but this represented an entirely new degree of danger and fear. 191 00:15:22,755 --> 00:15:26,247 An advance into Germany by Monty's northern route 192 00:15:26,425 --> 00:15:30,020 promised to push the rocket beyond the range of London. 193 00:15:35,367 --> 00:15:38,894 Two days after the attack, Eisenhower flew to Brussels 194 00:15:39,071 --> 00:15:42,563 for what he knew would be a difficult encounter. 195 00:15:42,775 --> 00:15:46,040 Monty had become a Field Marshal since their last meeting. 196 00:15:46,412 --> 00:15:51,372 It was a recognition of his service to the Allied cause and a sop to injured pride. 197 00:15:51,550 --> 00:15:55,509 The new Field Marshal was at his most imperious. 198 00:16:01,894 --> 00:16:05,330 It took five days for your latest signal to reach me. 199 00:16:06,498 --> 00:16:08,966 ''We must immediately exploit our success 200 00:16:09,301 --> 00:16:12,327 ''by promptly crossing the Rhine on a wide front 201 00:16:12,504 --> 00:16:14,768 ''and seizing the Saar and the Ruhr.'' 202 00:16:14,974 --> 00:16:18,910 Now, it is my duty to give you my opinion on the situation. 203 00:16:19,244 --> 00:16:22,270 It's no good trying to sustain two thrusts. 204 00:16:22,448 --> 00:16:26,441 We must put everything into one selected thrust and give it priority. 205 00:16:26,618 --> 00:16:29,553 All other thrusts must do what they can. 206 00:16:29,722 --> 00:16:34,022 Monty, we must get across the Rhine on a wide front first of all. 207 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,956 - Then concentrate on one thrust. - That's balls, sheer balls, absolute rubbish. 208 00:16:39,331 --> 00:16:43,859 You explicitly said, um, paragraph four, part two of 13889, 209 00:16:44,069 --> 00:16:48,768 which you sent me on the 5th of September, ''I have always given, and still give, 210 00:16:48,941 --> 00:16:52,638 ''priority to the Ruhr and the northern route of the advance.'' 211 00:16:52,845 --> 00:16:55,279 Not to the exclusion of everything else. 212 00:16:57,783 --> 00:17:02,846 You're bulling forward and getting nowhere. None of our armies is adequately supplied. 213 00:17:03,022 --> 00:17:06,514 Steady, Monty. You can't speak to me like that. 214 00:17:07,559 --> 00:17:10,392 - I'm your boss. - I'm sorry, Ike. 215 00:17:11,897 --> 00:17:17,733 But now Monty pressed his plan for a daring thrust across occupied Holland to the Rhine. 216 00:17:17,903 --> 00:17:20,337 Operation Market Garden. 217 00:17:23,575 --> 00:17:28,342 A carpet of British and American airborne troops would be dropped behind enemy lines 218 00:17:28,547 --> 00:17:31,015 to seize bridges across six major waterways. 219 00:17:31,350 --> 00:17:35,810 British armour would force a corridor 60 miles long through to the great prize, 220 00:17:36,588 --> 00:17:39,386 the crossing of the River Rhine at Arnhem. 221 00:17:40,759 --> 00:17:45,719 Beyond this stretched the Ruhr, the industrial heart of Hitler's war machine. 222 00:17:51,270 --> 00:17:53,534 Monty left with a promise of support. 223 00:17:55,274 --> 00:17:58,539 Eisenhower had often grumbled that he was too cautious. 224 00:17:58,744 --> 00:18:01,941 Operation Market Garden seemed quite out of character. 225 00:18:04,316 --> 00:18:08,446 But Monty was confident the Germans were too weak to hold his advance 226 00:18:08,620 --> 00:18:13,648 and that if he succeeded, Ike would be forced to throw everything into the northern route. 227 00:18:19,731 --> 00:18:25,465 An armada of planes and gliders assembled to ferry the 1st Airborne Army to Holland. 228 00:18:35,581 --> 00:18:40,348 (ENGLISH ACCENT) We were raring to go. The battle had to be won. We thought we'd win it. 229 00:18:40,552 --> 00:18:44,511 (NEW SPEAKER) We knew, sooner or later, we were going to be in action. 230 00:18:44,690 --> 00:18:49,650 It didn't take a big brain to realise that crossing the Rhine was the next big obstacle. 231 00:18:49,828 --> 00:18:52,626 (NEW SPEAKER) We were full of optimism 232 00:18:52,798 --> 00:18:57,633 that this was the Monty masterstroke which was going to win everything. 233 00:19:04,543 --> 00:19:08,502 There was the same euphoria at the headquarters of General Browning, 234 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:10,944 Commander of the Allied airborne troops. 235 00:19:11,316 --> 00:19:14,774 The British had been given the task of seizing the great prize, 236 00:19:14,953 --> 00:19:17,251 the final bridge at Arnhem. 237 00:19:17,422 --> 00:19:21,722 But there were voices in military intelligence that counselled caution. 238 00:19:26,899 --> 00:19:31,859 (ENGLISH ACCENT) There were all sorts of jokes about whether we should take golf clubs 239 00:19:32,037 --> 00:19:36,633 or shotguns because it was the pheasant season in southern Holland. 240 00:19:36,808 --> 00:19:39,242 This seemed to me to be appalling. 241 00:19:39,444 --> 00:19:43,210 There was no evidence that the Germans would lay down their arms. 242 00:19:44,750 --> 00:19:49,210 On the eve of the operation, members of the Dutch underground began to report 243 00:19:49,388 --> 00:19:52,357 a new and wholly unexpected German presence. 244 00:19:57,329 --> 00:19:59,229 (MORSE SIGNAL BEEPS) 245 00:20:00,432 --> 00:20:04,892 The remnants of two SS Panzer divisions that had escaped from France 246 00:20:05,070 --> 00:20:07,504 were refitting in southern Holland. 247 00:20:10,275 --> 00:20:14,405 (BRIAN URQUHART) They were extremely unlikely to lay down their arms, 248 00:20:14,580 --> 00:20:18,539 having a special relationship with Hitler, and that did seem, to me, 249 00:20:18,717 --> 00:20:21,550 to make it an unbelievably risky operation. 250 00:20:27,626 --> 00:20:30,891 (ENGLISH ACCENT) We had a drumhead service with the padre. 251 00:20:31,096 --> 00:20:37,626 All the gliders and tug aircraft and para aircraft were all lined up and revving up. 252 00:20:39,972 --> 00:20:45,774 In the early hours of September 17th, the first of more than 30,000 Allied soldiers 253 00:20:45,944 --> 00:20:50,574 began to board aircraft for the largest airborne operation ever launched. 254 00:20:51,650 --> 00:20:56,349 (ENGLISH ACCENT) You was allocated your seats, and then it was rev up and take off 255 00:20:56,521 --> 00:20:59,319 and try not to look frightened, I suppose! 256 00:21:02,928 --> 00:21:08,764 (ENGLISH ACCENT) Seeing this incredible air armada with all the gliders and paratroops 257 00:21:08,967 --> 00:21:13,597 and their planes, et cetera, in an absolute unending stream, 258 00:21:13,805 --> 00:21:18,572 and I don't think it occurred to us that anybody could possibly stop us. 259 00:21:21,947 --> 00:21:25,906 (SMITHSON) The green light comes on, you take your hook and sling that, 260 00:21:26,084 --> 00:21:29,247 cross your hands and out the door you go. 261 00:21:31,456 --> 00:21:36,416 There goes. Hear him shout? Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, 262 00:21:36,595 --> 00:21:41,498 nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. 263 00:21:42,968 --> 00:21:48,600 There they go. Every man out. I can see their chutes going down now. Every man clear. 264 00:21:58,350 --> 00:22:02,218 (DUTCH ACCENT) My mother called me to look out of the window. 265 00:22:02,387 --> 00:22:04,787 And it was marvellous. 266 00:22:04,956 --> 00:22:07,754 And there were parachutists coming down. 267 00:22:07,926 --> 00:22:10,588 It was... We were so pleased. 268 00:22:10,762 --> 00:22:13,890 ''Now we will be liberated. We are free.'' 269 00:22:15,434 --> 00:22:19,393 Just half of the airborne troops were to land on the first day. 270 00:22:19,571 --> 00:22:24,531 There would be two more airlifts before the Allied divisions were at full strength. 271 00:22:34,619 --> 00:22:38,521 The bridges were to be seized before the Germans could destroy them, 272 00:22:38,690 --> 00:22:44,060 but at Arnhem they were up to eight miles from the drop zones - two hours' march. 273 00:22:47,766 --> 00:22:50,564 (SMITHSON) The first couple or three miles, 274 00:22:50,736 --> 00:22:54,638 there was rather excited Dutch to welcome us, 275 00:22:54,806 --> 00:22:58,071 giving you a drink, giving you apples and that sort of thing. 276 00:23:00,011 --> 00:23:01,911 It was about 12 o'clock. 277 00:23:02,247 --> 00:23:06,707 Somebody of the underground people came along over the high street. 278 00:23:06,885 --> 00:23:11,845 And he said, ''Be careful, be careful. The Germans are coming back. 279 00:23:12,023 --> 00:23:13,991 ''Go inside.'' 280 00:23:15,861 --> 00:23:20,389 It had taken German commanders just hours to reorganise. 281 00:23:20,565 --> 00:23:23,591 (HEAVY BOMBARDMENT) 282 00:23:23,769 --> 00:23:29,230 A small force of British paras was able to secure the northern end of the Arnhem road bridge, 283 00:23:30,609 --> 00:23:33,510 but by the morning of the second day, 284 00:23:33,678 --> 00:23:37,512 German battle groups had begun to press into the town. 285 00:23:39,084 --> 00:23:43,544 My captain said, ''Higgs, come on. We'll have a look, see what's going on.'' 286 00:23:43,722 --> 00:23:48,022 We went up and I got as far as the road, looking up to the bridge. 287 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:51,818 We couldn't get any farther. They pinned us down. 288 00:23:54,699 --> 00:23:56,496 (MAN SPEAKS GERMAN) 289 00:23:56,668 --> 00:23:59,933 (TRANSLATOR) After a while, the British employed a smokescreen, 290 00:24:00,105 --> 00:24:05,338 but we could see them because we lay on the ground and were able to look underneath it. 291 00:24:10,282 --> 00:24:13,740 We aimed our guns and opened fire at the smoke. 292 00:24:15,253 --> 00:24:19,849 After it had dispersed, we saw an English soldier with his uniform caught on a fence. 293 00:24:21,593 --> 00:24:24,391 He was hit the moment he tried to climb over it. 294 00:24:32,604 --> 00:24:35,869 Come on. Get food, water, whatever you can grab. Come on. 295 00:24:36,074 --> 00:24:38,372 We won't be here long. Move. 296 00:24:38,543 --> 00:24:41,876 I'm sneaking upstairs with a Sten gun 297 00:24:42,047 --> 00:24:47,417 and this German officer came across the landing at the top, so I shot him. 298 00:24:57,295 --> 00:25:00,264 And he'd got the full SS Panzer regalia on. 299 00:25:00,432 --> 00:25:05,335 Bloody hell! We were only supposed to meet sick, lame and lazy, not these sort of blokes. 300 00:25:08,573 --> 00:25:14,375 By Day 3, attempts to reinforce the paras at the northern end of the bridge had been abandoned. 301 00:25:17,983 --> 00:25:21,544 It was proving almost impossible to direct the battle. 302 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,518 None of the divisions' radios worked. 303 00:25:28,593 --> 00:25:32,586 (ENGLISH ACCENT) I wanted to talk to my company commander. No reply. 304 00:25:32,764 --> 00:25:36,723 I'd no instructions. I didn't know where anyone was. 305 00:25:36,902 --> 00:25:39,530 I didn't know the state of the battle. 306 00:25:40,772 --> 00:25:45,675 Everything depended on the tanks of British 30 Corps punching through to Arnhem, 307 00:25:46,444 --> 00:25:51,905 but by September 19th, the morning of Day 3, they were well behind schedule. 308 00:25:56,621 --> 00:26:00,682 The British had made contact with the American 101st Airborne Division 309 00:26:00,859 --> 00:26:02,827 at Eindhoven on the 18th, 310 00:26:02,994 --> 00:26:06,953 but beyond it the Germans had blown the bridge over the canal at Son. 311 00:26:07,299 --> 00:26:09,927 The following morning, they were across 312 00:26:10,268 --> 00:26:14,568 and pressing towards the pocket held by the American 82nd Airborne. 313 00:26:18,510 --> 00:26:22,276 (ENGLISH ACCENT) It was very much stop-start, stop-start. 314 00:26:22,447 --> 00:26:27,908 And every now and then, a German column got in the road ahead of you 315 00:26:28,253 --> 00:26:29,652 or the road behind you. 316 00:26:31,590 --> 00:26:36,892 Monty had sent members of his personal staff to report on the progress of the British advance. 317 00:26:42,934 --> 00:26:46,893 (CAROL MATHER) This one single road and the Germans counter-attacked. 318 00:26:47,072 --> 00:26:49,700 There was a major melee on this road. 319 00:26:50,609 --> 00:26:53,578 And it was a scene of the utmost confusion. 320 00:26:56,815 --> 00:27:01,650 And then when one got back and saw Monty and described to him what had happened, 321 00:27:01,820 --> 00:27:04,186 he was quite worried by this. 322 00:27:09,227 --> 00:27:13,186 Field Marshal Montgomery was engaged in a very different battle. 323 00:27:14,566 --> 00:27:18,332 Although Eisenhower had promised him all the support he needed, 324 00:27:18,536 --> 00:27:22,302 he'd allowed Patton to launch another offensive in the south. 325 00:27:23,241 --> 00:27:25,505 Monty was furious. 326 00:27:26,578 --> 00:27:29,570 ''I consider that, as time is so very important, 327 00:27:29,748 --> 00:27:34,208 ''we have got to decide what is necessary to go to Berlin and finish the war. 328 00:27:34,986 --> 00:27:39,753 ''It is my opinion that three armies are enough if you select the northern route.'' 329 00:27:40,825 --> 00:27:45,592 (EISENHOWER) ''I cannot believe that there is any great difference in our concepts. 330 00:27:45,797 --> 00:27:51,702 ''Never have I implied considering an advance into Germany with all armies moving abreast. 331 00:27:51,870 --> 00:27:55,829 ''My choice of routes for making the all-out offensive into Germany 332 00:27:56,007 --> 00:27:58,635 ''is from the Ruhr to Berlin.'' 333 00:27:59,711 --> 00:28:04,808 Monty and Eisenhower were crossing swords over plans for the advance beyond the Rhine. 334 00:28:04,983 --> 00:28:09,181 The 1st Airborne Division was losing its foothold on its banks. 335 00:28:11,556 --> 00:28:16,653 It wasn't until the fifth day of the battle that the last reinforcements were dropped at Arnhem. 336 00:28:16,828 --> 00:28:19,456 The Germans were waiting. 337 00:28:23,835 --> 00:28:30,798 On that jump, we were like an animal. We were ready to bite, to jump, to do anything. 338 00:28:30,975 --> 00:28:35,935 We were not frightened at that moment. You haven't got time to be frightened. 339 00:28:36,281 --> 00:28:40,240 Before we landed, they were shooting to us like ducks. 340 00:28:44,289 --> 00:28:46,553 (MAN SPEAKS GERMAN) 341 00:28:46,758 --> 00:28:49,386 (TRANSLATOR) We fired with all the guns we had. 342 00:28:49,561 --> 00:28:54,692 I had set up my machine-gun on a bridge and opened fire straight into the parachutes. 343 00:28:59,938 --> 00:29:02,839 Some of the planes were hit and burst into flames 344 00:29:03,007 --> 00:29:05,942 and some crashed and exploded on the ground. 345 00:29:16,554 --> 00:29:21,821 It had become a grim struggle for survival against an enemy growing in confidence again. 346 00:29:23,862 --> 00:29:28,765 (ENGLISH ACCENT) Adrenaline was flowing and that keeps you going for quite a long time. 347 00:29:28,967 --> 00:29:31,595 That and water. 348 00:29:37,909 --> 00:29:43,506 Every time you got holed up into a defensive position, in a house, 349 00:29:43,681 --> 00:29:48,209 it wasn't long before a tank appeared and levelled its gun 350 00:29:48,386 --> 00:29:50,513 and you moved. 351 00:29:53,925 --> 00:29:57,361 (DAVID SALIK) I could hear them and see them passing by. 352 00:29:57,562 --> 00:30:02,795 And that sound of the...of that ''moo'', it is so unnerving. 353 00:30:16,781 --> 00:30:20,740 (ENGLISH ACCENT) If you can pick them off, take one with you. 354 00:30:22,987 --> 00:30:25,785 That was what the old sweats used to tell you. 355 00:30:44,642 --> 00:30:49,602 During the night you'd hear the clanking and movement of armour 356 00:30:49,781 --> 00:30:52,045 and you'd think, ''Oh, it's 30 Corps.'' 357 00:30:53,418 --> 00:30:56,251 And when it gets light, no 30 Corps. 358 00:30:58,656 --> 00:31:02,888 The vanguard of 30 Corps had crossed the last great bridge at Nijmegen 359 00:31:03,061 --> 00:31:05,495 on the evening of the fourth day, 360 00:31:05,663 --> 00:31:08,461 and then stopped, exhausted. 361 00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:11,764 Arnhem was just 12 miles away. 362 00:31:17,609 --> 00:31:20,874 But by the time the tanks had begun to roll again, 363 00:31:21,079 --> 00:31:25,846 the paras clinging to the northern end of the Arnhem bridge had been overwhelmed. 364 00:31:27,952 --> 00:31:30,443 The remnants of the 1st Airborne Division 365 00:31:30,655 --> 00:31:34,955 were pinned into a shrinking pocket to the west of the village of Oosterbeek. 366 00:31:35,293 --> 00:31:38,421 They still held a foothold on the banks of the Rhine, 367 00:31:38,596 --> 00:31:41,064 but they were short of food and ammunition. 368 00:31:44,302 --> 00:31:47,897 (HIGGS) We knew the battle was over and we had to get out. 369 00:31:48,106 --> 00:31:51,542 We decided that we'd go across this high ground, 370 00:31:51,743 --> 00:31:56,510 but the Germans, they knew where we were. They were up there before us. 371 00:31:56,714 --> 00:31:58,978 (CONSTANT FIRE) 372 00:32:01,753 --> 00:32:07,851 They let us have it. I fired the Tommy gun and the next thing I knew I was down on the deck. 373 00:32:12,463 --> 00:32:15,728 Two guys came up and dragged me down a shingly road 374 00:32:15,934 --> 00:32:20,894 and the bullets were hitting the top there, and they got me into a little Dutch house. 375 00:32:23,775 --> 00:32:26,039 The battle for Arnhem was lost. 376 00:32:26,411 --> 00:32:31,007 The British advance had reached the opposite bank of the Rhine, but would go no further. 377 00:32:31,382 --> 00:32:35,910 On the evening of September 25th, the survivors were ferried to safety. 378 00:32:36,087 --> 00:32:39,853 All but the wounded. They were left for the Germans. 379 00:32:44,462 --> 00:32:46,953 (BILL HIGGS) I didn't think I was going to live. 380 00:32:47,298 --> 00:32:51,394 When blood's running out your mouth, you don't think you've got much chance. 381 00:32:51,569 --> 00:32:53,696 Then the Germans came in and captured us. 382 00:32:57,508 --> 00:33:02,411 Monty's judgement had been clouded by the hope that a quick victory was still possible 383 00:33:02,580 --> 00:33:07,540 and, above all, by his determination to win Ike's support for his route into Germany. 384 00:33:14,759 --> 00:33:17,023 Of the 11,000 men who'd landed at Arnhem, 385 00:33:17,395 --> 00:33:19,863 less than a quarter returned. 386 00:33:21,466 --> 00:33:27,268 We got back to the same old Nissen hut that we'd left - what? - a month earlier. 387 00:33:28,773 --> 00:33:31,469 And there were all unoccupied beds. 388 00:33:33,945 --> 00:33:36,379 Of my platoon, only four of us come back. 389 00:33:37,749 --> 00:33:41,515 Out of some - what? - 25, 26 people that went. 390 00:33:44,288 --> 00:33:46,848 Arnhem was a double defeat. 391 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:55,658 There had been wild rejoicing when, on September 4th, British tanks seized Antwerp. 392 00:33:58,302 --> 00:34:00,827 It was one of Europe's largest ports, 393 00:34:01,005 --> 00:34:05,465 perfectly placed to supply the Allied armies for the final push on Germany. 394 00:34:17,255 --> 00:34:22,887 But the Germans still controlled the approaches to the port, more than 40 miles of coastline. 395 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,628 Eisenhower had made its capture a priority, 396 00:34:31,803 --> 00:34:35,762 but that had been overlooked in the headlong dash to Arnhem. 397 00:34:36,941 --> 00:34:39,375 It would be another two difficult months 398 00:34:39,577 --> 00:34:42,546 before the first essential supplies were landed. 399 00:34:48,286 --> 00:34:51,255 When is the 3rd Army going to start moving again? 400 00:34:51,422 --> 00:34:53,549 As soon as we get supplies. 401 00:34:53,724 --> 00:34:56,352 There's no point in making a slow advance 402 00:34:56,527 --> 00:34:59,655 and we can't make a rapid advance without the stuff. 403 00:34:59,831 --> 00:35:04,234 We could fight for five days and then we'd have to throw rocks. 404 00:35:05,369 --> 00:35:08,497 The 3rd Army's advance had been brought to a halt 405 00:35:08,673 --> 00:35:11,233 by a severe shortage of supplies 406 00:35:11,409 --> 00:35:14,674 and an enemy who'd gained fresh heart at Arnhem. 407 00:35:14,879 --> 00:35:18,315 It is my earnest effort to make sure it isn't static. 408 00:35:18,516 --> 00:35:20,643 That is a poor way of fighting. 409 00:35:20,818 --> 00:35:23,252 The best way to defend is to attack. 410 00:35:24,322 --> 00:35:26,790 The best way to attack is to attack. 411 00:35:26,958 --> 00:35:30,450 Will the Nazis go underground once the Allies reach Germany? 412 00:35:30,661 --> 00:35:32,925 You bet, soldier. Six feet under. 413 00:35:33,764 --> 00:35:36,892 For all the bluster, Patton was going nowhere. 414 00:35:44,942 --> 00:35:48,639 The American armies crept towards the Rhine that autumn, 415 00:35:48,846 --> 00:35:53,545 held by a determined enemy who'd fallen back on carefully prepared defences. 416 00:35:58,456 --> 00:36:03,689 On October 14th, the supreme commander celebrated his 54th birthday. 417 00:36:03,861 --> 00:36:06,227 General Eisenhower. 418 00:36:07,231 --> 00:36:12,362 The American generals Patton and Bradley joined him. Montgomery was absent. 419 00:36:13,337 --> 00:36:15,601 He could think of nothing to celebrate. 420 00:36:16,908 --> 00:36:19,536 After the failure at Arnhem and Antwerp, 421 00:36:19,710 --> 00:36:25,307 he was forced to watch as Eisenhower pressed ahead on a front 200 miles long. 422 00:36:26,918 --> 00:36:31,378 Nowhere were the Allied armies strong enough to achieve a breakthrough. 423 00:36:31,556 --> 00:36:36,016 The great victory in France was already a distant memory. 424 00:36:43,935 --> 00:36:48,395 (CAROL MATHER) There was no concerted plan from the centre. 425 00:36:50,274 --> 00:36:54,734 And so it was a very unsatisfactory period, rather an unhappy period. 426 00:36:54,912 --> 00:36:57,278 Monty was very unhappy about it. 427 00:36:57,481 --> 00:37:00,245 We've been bulling ahead on all fronts. 428 00:37:00,418 --> 00:37:02,409 We have wasted our superiority. 429 00:37:02,620 --> 00:37:06,386 No Allied thrust towards the Rhine, let alone across it, 430 00:37:06,591 --> 00:37:08,855 can be mounted for months to come. 431 00:37:09,227 --> 00:37:12,685 The Allies have suffered a strategic reverse. 432 00:37:12,863 --> 00:37:17,994 On November 28th, Eisenhower visited Monty's forward headquarters in Belgium 433 00:37:18,336 --> 00:37:21,533 for what would be another difficult conference. 434 00:37:21,739 --> 00:37:26,199 There must be a new plan and this one must not fail. 435 00:37:27,245 --> 00:37:31,841 We must get away from the doctrine of making so many attacks on different places 436 00:37:32,049 --> 00:37:37,351 that nowhere is the attack strong enough to achieve a decisive result. 437 00:37:37,521 --> 00:37:41,787 Monty never really seemed to treat Ike as his commander. 438 00:37:41,959 --> 00:37:46,259 He seemed to treat him as kind of a political figure 439 00:37:46,430 --> 00:37:50,730 with whom he could argue, contest a point of view, disagree. 440 00:37:50,901 --> 00:37:52,869 Yeah, perhaps. 441 00:37:53,037 --> 00:37:56,734 But Brad must continue to command the 12th Army Group. 442 00:37:56,941 --> 00:38:01,469 (HANSEN) It was as though teacher had come to teach us. 443 00:38:01,646 --> 00:38:04,444 Eisenhower was not to be moved. 444 00:38:04,615 --> 00:38:08,608 The Allied advance would continue on a broad front. 445 00:38:16,394 --> 00:38:20,353 ''The American plan for winning the war is quite dreadful. 446 00:38:20,531 --> 00:38:23,261 ''It will not succeed and the war will go on.'' 447 00:38:25,903 --> 00:38:28,337 If Monty seemed arrogant and remote, 448 00:38:28,539 --> 00:38:31,804 it was because he believed that by pushing everywhere, 449 00:38:32,009 --> 00:38:35,968 Eisenhower risked failing to break through anywhere. 450 00:38:43,754 --> 00:38:46,746 (MONTGOMERY) I hope the American public will realise 451 00:38:46,924 --> 00:38:50,360 that, owing to the handling of the campaign in Western Europe, 452 00:38:50,561 --> 00:38:54,019 the German war will now go on during 1945. 453 00:38:58,936 --> 00:39:02,838 The experience of war is that you pay dearly for mistakes. 454 00:39:03,007 --> 00:39:05,737 No one knows that better than we British. 455 00:39:20,558 --> 00:39:22,685 On December 16th, 1944, 456 00:39:22,893 --> 00:39:27,193 a German storm burst along 50 miles of the Allied front. 457 00:39:29,367 --> 00:39:34,327 Three German armies pushed through the forests of the Ardennes on the Belgian border. 458 00:39:37,808 --> 00:39:40,436 The blow fell on a thinly stretched line, 459 00:39:40,611 --> 00:39:44,741 held by divisions that were either tired or untested. 460 00:39:47,651 --> 00:39:51,951 We were out looking for targets for the artillery. 461 00:39:52,990 --> 00:39:56,482 Jeez. All of a sudden, we saw a lot of tanks. 462 00:39:56,694 --> 00:39:59,322 And they were German tanks. 463 00:40:00,364 --> 00:40:01,831 And, uh... 464 00:40:01,999 --> 00:40:04,297 So we got the... 465 00:40:04,468 --> 00:40:07,733 We tried to get the artillery on the line! 466 00:40:07,938 --> 00:40:11,704 And they weren't answering because they'd been overrun. 467 00:40:17,948 --> 00:40:22,715 We finally wound up with thousands of Americans... 468 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:25,946 ..with their hands up like this. 469 00:40:26,290 --> 00:40:31,523 It had seemed impossible the summer before, but the Germans had rebuilt. 470 00:40:33,297 --> 00:40:35,629 It was a full-blooded counter-attack, 471 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,064 a single, all-powerful thrust. 472 00:40:39,069 --> 00:40:43,836 It was the same strategy Monty was proposing for the conquest of the Reich. 473 00:40:49,313 --> 00:40:53,773 Hitler had ordered his armies to strike through the Ardennes forests to the River Meuse 474 00:40:53,951 --> 00:40:56,385 and then on to the port of Antwerp. 475 00:40:56,587 --> 00:40:59,488 If successful, it would split the Allied front. 476 00:41:04,595 --> 00:41:06,222 OK... 477 00:41:10,935 --> 00:41:15,702 The commander of the American 12th Army Group, General Bradley, was with Ike 478 00:41:15,906 --> 00:41:19,865 when news of the German breakthrough reached him. 479 00:41:20,945 --> 00:41:25,405 (CHESTER HANSEN) They didn't think the German had that much left in him. 480 00:41:25,583 --> 00:41:29,041 We thought we were on the road to the end of the war. 481 00:41:30,287 --> 00:41:34,348 And suddenly he turned around and had the initiative. 482 00:41:37,328 --> 00:41:42,288 General Bradley, who almost never used profanity of any kind, 483 00:41:42,466 --> 00:41:47,904 said, ''Where in the world did that sonofabitch get all of that stuff?'' 484 00:41:54,311 --> 00:41:58,771 Eisenhower was forced to throw the only reserves he had into the battle - 485 00:41:59,817 --> 00:42:02,377 the veteran American airborne divisions. 486 00:42:07,591 --> 00:42:10,856 Many of the men did not have winter clothing. 487 00:42:11,028 --> 00:42:13,826 We were very cold and we huddled together, 488 00:42:13,998 --> 00:42:16,796 50 to 60 men in one of these trucks. 489 00:42:20,638 --> 00:42:24,938 The small market town of Bastogne stood before the German advance. 490 00:42:26,377 --> 00:42:28,845 On the morning of December 19th, 491 00:42:29,013 --> 00:42:33,040 the 101st Airborne Division began to take up positions around the town. 492 00:42:43,961 --> 00:42:50,059 (RICHARD BOWEN) I could see, in the distance, figures coming from the north. 493 00:42:50,434 --> 00:42:52,698 It was men, women and children. 494 00:42:52,903 --> 00:42:56,862 Well, when they got to our roadblock, our men had stopped them 495 00:42:57,041 --> 00:43:01,603 and at the same time the Germans came up behind them and started to fire at 'em. 496 00:43:08,752 --> 00:43:11,380 The airborne troops had made it just in time. 497 00:43:11,555 --> 00:43:14,353 Bastogne was under siege. 498 00:43:15,392 --> 00:43:19,988 The Germans had driven a wedge more than 30 miles deep in the American line. 499 00:43:20,364 --> 00:43:22,889 (HEAVY FIRE) 500 00:43:28,272 --> 00:43:31,867 The headquarters of the Army Group commander, General Bradley, 501 00:43:32,076 --> 00:43:36,604 was on the southern side of the bulge, two of his three armies to the north. 502 00:43:37,781 --> 00:43:41,547 Bradley was struggling to direct the American defence. 503 00:43:46,824 --> 00:43:52,626 Monty felt that the whole of his command, the 21st Airborne Group, was threatened 504 00:43:52,796 --> 00:43:56,892 and that the route to Antwerp for the Germans was wide open. 505 00:44:00,070 --> 00:44:05,906 The situation must be regarded as, uh, an opportunity for us, not disaster. 506 00:44:06,977 --> 00:44:11,277 On December 19th, Eisenhower summoned his senior American commanders 507 00:44:11,448 --> 00:44:13,348 to a conference at Verdun. 508 00:44:13,517 --> 00:44:16,975 There will be only cheerful faces at this conference. 509 00:44:17,354 --> 00:44:22,986 I want you to take command of this move, George, under Brad's supervision, of course, 510 00:44:23,327 --> 00:44:27,286 making a strong counter-attack with at least six divisions. 511 00:44:27,464 --> 00:44:30,490 - When can you start moving? - As soon as you're through. 512 00:44:30,668 --> 00:44:35,503 - When can you attack? - Morning of December 21st. Three divisions. 513 00:44:35,673 --> 00:44:37,937 Don't be fatuous, George. 514 00:44:38,308 --> 00:44:42,904 If you try to go that early, you won't have three full divisions and you'll go piecemeal. 515 00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:45,942 I can do it, Ike. And I will. 516 00:44:47,618 --> 00:44:51,247 I don't know that everyone believed Patton at the time. 517 00:44:51,422 --> 00:44:57,588 It was quite a manoeuvre to pull a whole army out that was engaged in a battlefront, 518 00:44:57,795 --> 00:45:01,731 disengage, pull it back, put it on the road and speed it north. 519 00:45:02,766 --> 00:45:06,202 The Kraut's got his head in a meat grinder right now 520 00:45:06,403 --> 00:45:08,997 and I've got the handle! 521 00:45:09,339 --> 00:45:12,797 Patton's divisions would have to swing north along icy roads 522 00:45:12,976 --> 00:45:15,604 to strike at the German advance. 523 00:45:16,914 --> 00:45:21,374 Eisenhower had turned to his most capable American commander to bail him out 524 00:45:21,552 --> 00:45:24,020 in the south of the bulge. 525 00:45:24,354 --> 00:45:27,812 I want the fly boys to really pump that up, soften it. 526 00:45:27,991 --> 00:45:32,758 To the north, he was forced to turn to the one man he least wanted to approach. 527 00:45:38,268 --> 00:45:42,398 Montgomery met the commanders of the American 1st and 9th Armies 528 00:45:42,573 --> 00:45:44,837 on the day after the Verdun conference. 529 00:45:45,042 --> 00:45:50,002 Eisenhower asked him to give firm leadership to all American forces north of the bulge. 530 00:45:50,347 --> 00:45:54,647 Monty had been arguing for a single land commander in the north for months. 531 00:45:54,818 --> 00:45:59,278 He'd got his way at last. At least for as long as the crisis lasted. 532 00:46:00,390 --> 00:46:02,585 We, of course, didn't like it. 533 00:46:02,793 --> 00:46:07,423 I wouldn't say there was animosity between the British and American forces, 534 00:46:07,598 --> 00:46:10,863 but a sense of competitiveness between the two. 535 00:46:11,235 --> 00:46:16,798 And the thought of putting American forces under British command did not appeal to us. 536 00:46:25,415 --> 00:46:30,375 All that mattered to the ordinary American soldier was the grim battle against the weather 537 00:46:30,554 --> 00:46:32,818 and a relentless enemy. 538 00:46:40,931 --> 00:46:44,560 Casualties among the airborne troops at Bastogne were high, 539 00:46:44,735 --> 00:46:47,533 as they'd been at Arnhem, three months before. 540 00:46:53,410 --> 00:46:55,674 (LATIN SERVICE) 541 00:47:01,652 --> 00:47:07,386 On December 23rd, the cloud that had shrouded the battlefield for days lifted. 542 00:47:07,558 --> 00:47:11,722 The full weight of Allied air power fell on the German advance. 543 00:47:19,570 --> 00:47:24,872 And, by Christmas, the tanks of Patton's 3rd Army were striking at the German advance. 544 00:47:30,747 --> 00:47:33,375 The crisis in the field had passed. 545 00:47:34,418 --> 00:47:37,216 The crisis in command had not. 546 00:47:45,596 --> 00:47:51,398 (MONTGOMERY) I put this matter to you again as I am so anxious not to have another failure. 547 00:47:52,436 --> 00:47:55,462 As American forces turned to the offensive, 548 00:47:55,639 --> 00:47:59,336 Eisenhower received a letter from Field Marshal Montgomery. 549 00:47:59,543 --> 00:48:05,243 I am absolutely convinced that the key to success lies in all available offensive power 550 00:48:05,415 --> 00:48:09,875 being assigned to the northern line of advance, and a sound set-up for command - 551 00:48:10,220 --> 00:48:15,180 one man directing and controlling the whole tactical battle on the northern thrust. 552 00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:19,661 Eisenhower's staff were furious. 553 00:48:21,565 --> 00:48:24,898 The counter-attack was still being pressed. 554 00:48:25,235 --> 00:48:29,365 But Monty seemed prepared to use the discomfort of an ally 555 00:48:29,539 --> 00:48:33,999 to force both himself and his route to Berlin on the supreme commander. 556 00:48:38,015 --> 00:48:42,975 Montgomery's Chief of Staff returned with Eisenhower's reply on New Year's Eve. 557 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:46,414 I've just come back from SHAEF. 558 00:48:46,590 --> 00:48:48,717 And I've seen Ike. 559 00:48:48,926 --> 00:48:52,760 And it's on the cards that you might have to go. 560 00:48:52,930 --> 00:48:54,557 Ah. 561 00:48:54,731 --> 00:48:56,790 Who will take my place? Who? 562 00:48:56,967 --> 00:48:59,265 Alexander. 563 00:49:00,871 --> 00:49:03,169 What shall I do, Freddie? 564 00:49:03,340 --> 00:49:05,604 I've drafted this signal for you. 565 00:49:06,543 --> 00:49:11,845 If Monty wasn't prepared to accept Eisenhower's direction, he would be replaced. 566 00:49:12,015 --> 00:49:14,449 ''Dear Ike, have seen Freddie 567 00:49:14,651 --> 00:49:19,418 ''and understand you are worried about many considerations in these difficult days. 568 00:49:19,589 --> 00:49:23,548 ''I have given you my frank views because I have felt you like this. 569 00:49:23,727 --> 00:49:26,525 ''Whatever your decision may be...'' 570 00:49:26,697 --> 00:49:33,569 It was the end of the matter. The defeat of Hitler's Reich was in American hands. Eisenhower's. 571 00:49:33,737 --> 00:49:36,501 ''Your devoted subordinate.'' 572 00:49:36,673 --> 00:49:38,937 And it would stay there. 573 00:49:42,412 --> 00:49:45,540 Monty had been slow to grasp the new reality. 574 00:49:45,716 --> 00:49:48,651 There couldn't be a British-led thrust to Berlin. 575 00:49:48,819 --> 00:49:53,279 The final victory in the West would belong, first and foremost, to America. 576 00:50:08,605 --> 00:50:11,597 As the German armies were squeezed from the bulge, 577 00:50:11,775 --> 00:50:16,041 they left behind them a battlefield littered with frozen bodies. 578 00:50:17,614 --> 00:50:22,642 80,000 American soldiers were killed, wounded or captured, 579 00:50:22,819 --> 00:50:26,915 and more than 100,000 Germans were casualties of the fighting. 580 00:50:29,292 --> 00:50:34,594 The Battle of the Bulge marked the disastrous end to four months of failure. 581 00:50:55,652 --> 00:50:58,280 On the eve of another year at war, 582 00:50:58,455 --> 00:51:03,688 Field Marshal Montgomery found time to open the betting book he kept at his headquarters. 583 00:51:06,263 --> 00:51:10,222 The Allied generals had exchanged wagers on the course of the war. 584 00:51:11,435 --> 00:51:14,700 Eisenhower had bet it would be over by Christmas. 585 00:51:16,773 --> 00:51:18,741 He'd lost.